From Uber to Laundrapp, disruptive digital start-ups are focused on making life easier for consumers by identifying pain points and removing them. Long-established brands are having to think the same way or risk losing business to the upstarts; the fates of Kodak and Blockbuster still loom large in the corporate memory. There are several options open to them, including simply buying up the companies that are innovating in their space, investing in them or building new propositions themselves. And success in the last area can have a knock-on effect in unexpected ways.
Speaking at Unbound (London, July 2017), Hemal Kuntawala,...